When we got to the top of the list there were 4 profiles available. This was before they sourced US sperm that complies with Australian disclosure laws.
Our wait (9 months, but were told to expect 1 year) isn't relevant as it was before the US sperm.

We found our perfect donor in the 4 profiles we were initially given, so I don't know how quickly new profiles are offered if you don't find your donor in the initial batch.

We DID find it really emotional not finding sperm - but then again we were given "almost certain" chances based on hormones and size. But I think it's best for you to have the donor backup. You are ready for donor, and IF the emotions are too great to proceed with transfer that cycle then hopefully you'll be able to bank some frosties to use later. Frozen embies are better than frozen eggs.

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Our current FS initially said he didn't agree with having donor sperm as back-up, but I insisted, and then he said he would do it, if that's what I wanted - so it was settled!! When we went to Dr G he said definitely we should have donor sperm organised, even though he thinks we have a good chance with the micro-dissection, so I was pleased that he agrees. So it seems that there's differing opinions out there. But yes, a fresh cycle is always better than frozen. And yes, we'd come to terms six months ago or more about using donor sperm, so we're good to embark on this journey, however it may turn out.

We've been to one counselling session at Fertility First, but will go to a second one at IVFA in a couple of weeks. It more goes over your whole history, what you will tell the baby/friends/family, what the rules for donors are, reactions from family members etc. I wasn't sure I got much from it, as I've done a lot of reading over the past 12 months, and sort of knew already about all the rules, and the pros and cons of various viewpoints. It will be interesting to attend the IVFA in a few weeks time, and see if it's any different to the other one we attended.

I think I've mentioned elsewhere that Kirsty, the IVFA donor co-ordinator is very helpful, so you can ring and chat with her. We put our name down at the end f October and was told there's a 4-6 month wait. I rang her, as I was upset it would take this long, and she basically said it might be as early as 3-4 months, so I'm hoping for that. She also said there would be a choice of about 10-15 donors, which would be nice. I'll update again when we get to that stage. There is another person on Bubhub whose name was put down at the beginning of October, so she's a few weeks ahead of me, so it might give us some indication soon :-)

How was your holiday?
We went back to IVFA yesterday and saw Dr Perrson about organising the surgery. We asked about waiting till we have donor as a back up but he pretty much talked us out of it. Maybe because we haven't known for too long he thinks we should make the donor decision seperatly. My DH agreed and he said if they can get us in for the surgery sooner then we have donor then we might as well do it so we are.
When is your surgery?
The nurses are going to talk to Dr G on friday about when he might fit us in. We meet with them and they ran through all the drugs you need to take and how to take them. I got a pill script and she said to start taking it when i get my period which is this week just in case they can do it soon. So now we just wait to hear from them.
We meet with the counsellor Sally as well. She is lovely and just got a history of us and our families and really just talked about the legal side of using donor and how some people come to terms with it. She pretty much said we should have a bit more time to think about it and get our heads around it but im 99% sure we will go ahead with it. She did suggest we think about using an embryo adoption but i feel a bit weird about that. I dont want to take a embryo off a poor lady who doesnt have any eggs and she could use it when mine hopefully are good. Sally said that yes you will have a few donors to choose from when you get to the top and you have a week to look at them to make a decision.

Twosouls.... always interesting to read what different people are recommending. We won't know for another week or two if our name will be at the top of the list and ready for a Feb EPU. We're really not 100% sure what we will do if our name is not ready. Dr G seemed so optomistic so DH and I have been considering doing a cycle with micro-dissection in Feb, even if the donor sperm is not ready. Or do we wait until Mar and have it as back-up? We really haven't decided what to do, and probably will be guided with what the FS says in two weeks time.

I really don't know much about embryo adoption, but it makes sense to have some attempts with your own eggs. Even though I'm 40 they haven't really said many negative things about me or my eggs, so we're hoping it's just DH's MFI to contend with. Hope that's the same with you.

We've still got a couple more days here on holiday in Tasmania before returning to "normal" life. We've had a great time, seen so many beautiful places and done so many things. Starting to get a bit sad, as we've agreed we won't plan any more holidays at all until we get a baby, as we don't want any clashes with dates, timings of cycles etc. Bit sad, but also excited that this might be the year for us :-))

AFM.... Well, we have a plan now and should start sniffing Syranel today or tomorrow, as soon as the results of yesterdays BTs are in. We're going with the plan to see if Dr G can find some sperm in DH's micro-dissection, so are not waiting for donor sperm, as it still won't be available for another month (and I just can't wait any longer). I really had wanted the donor sperm as back-up, but yesterday I phoned Kirsty, the donor co-ordinator and she basically said it would still be 3-4 weeks, and really didn't think it would come through in time for a February EPU. DH and I had discussed this possibility in the last couple of weeks, and had already decided that if that was the case, that we would go ahead without it, as we can't wait any long, and just want to be doing something. There is a possibility that Dr G doesn't find any useable sperm, so the cycle would then be cancelled (ie. no EPU), but DH and I feel that we will be no worse off in that situation as we were in our first two cycles that didn't result in a pregnancy (apart from financially, but it's only money!!). Glad to now be doing something.

Hope you don't mind me joining your thread, my hubby was diagnosed with Azoospermia a few years ago and until now we haven't been ready to go ahead with treatment. I have however done heaps and heaps of research and seen a heap of specialists!

We moved to Sydney a couple of years ago and so far have been to see Dr Golovsky at IVFA. We liked him and also Dr Perrsson who I went to see for the ICSI part, but I've also heard from a friend of Dr Lok at Genea who also specialises in male factor and surgical sperm retrieval - we're booked in for an initial consult on 7th Feb.

My question is really for MGC Bertie - as I've read from your posts you've also been to see both these specialists. Looks like you're starting a cycle with Dr G and IVFA and I just wondered if you could let me know why you decided to pick him? Best of luck with the next steps and Dr G works wonders! I'm all about finding the very best surgeon to do the sperm retrieval, as my research shows you need someone who really knows their stuff and both these drs are the best I've found in Sydney at least.

Just wondering how your husband initially reacted to donor sperm? Was he positive from the beginning? I think exhausting all options beforehand is certainly the way to go. It's so exciting that you're pregnant and that he is so happy and excited.

Originally Posted by cocosmum

Hi Laura and Nathan!

We were in EXACTLY the same position as you in June/July and now. . . we're six weeks pregnant!

My husband is azoospermic. . . the process to diagnosing that was he did two sperm samples both with the same result (no sperm) then we were referred to a Fertility Specialist who did an open biopsy (they cut a small section - about the size of a baby pea - from each testicle and tested it - he had a local anaesthetic and i could stay with him for the procedure) The results of which came back still azoospermic.

The Fertility specialists policy regarding sperm donation did not suit us - so we changed clinics and went interstate where the policy and the culture was a lot more positive for us.

Since we had put our faith in the new Fertility Specialist we asked him to give us a second opinion on the diagnosis and he said that the chance of finding any sperm was very slim - but we went ahead and had a second biopsy done (this time it was an aspiration where they take several samples of tissue from each side using a needle) and as we expected they still found no sperm.

We are now pregnant using donor sperm through icsi. We feel as though we did ABSOLUTELY everything we could to have our own genetic child and are extremely happy about the choices that we've made.

Initially when we decided that we would use donor sperm if necessary i thought that it would be a really bumpy road until the baby was here. I thought my husband might somehow feel disconnected from the pregnancy because of genetics but i told myself that once the baby was here everything would be fine.

i couldn't have been more wrong about that! My husband is so unbelieveably excited! He wants to tell the whole world we are pregnant and he obsesses over hormone levels and car seats and baby products. . . AND WE'RE ONLY SIX WEEKS!!!

Anyway, that's our story. . . i wanted to offer you both my support. Any questions i'm happy to answer them.
I know the situation might look dark right now (if you've just been diagnosed) there is a way through that you can both be happy with and hopefully the road won't be too long for you.

Hi MGC i have been wondering how you are going? We are booked in for our surgery on the 15th of Feb so it is all going ahead. It is so exciting and nerve racking. We decided also to go ahead with the surgery without donor back up because we just want to get moving on something. I rang Kirsty the other day to ask how the list was going and she said we could still be another 3 months away. I hope its not that long.
So started sniffing yesterday and start the injections next weekend some time. Not looking forward to that!
What day is your surgery?

Twosouls... oh wow, our EPU + microdissection will is down for Mon 18 Feb (possibly the 20th Feb, depending on how the drugs etc go). That's so exciting to have someone doing the same and so close to us. Littlesunflowers is also in the same boat as us, but I think they have their EPU and micro-dissection next week. Just three of us that I know of doing the micro-dissection at the moment. Do you know of any others? Good luck. I don't find the sniffing at all bad, maybe because I've had lots of horrible tasting drugs for various things of the past few years. Yep, not looking forward to the injections, but I just let DH take care of it, and really it's over quick enough!

Ginios.... I loved both Dr L + Dr G almost equally, and so did DH. Not only are they the best, but they are actually the only two in NSW doing the "micro-dissection" procedure. All others only do aspirations and biopsies. That's the most important thing I wish I knew 12 months ago! Now, when I say they are the only two, I would like to point out that Dr G is actually presently training up a couple of others to do it (but they're not ready yet, but some time in the future there will be others doing it).

I think what swayed us to going with Dr G (and IVFA) was who I would be having as my FS, in that I preferred Prof Illingworth (IVFA) over Dr Clark (Fertility First). I've had "issues" with the front desk at both IVFA + FF (not following up things, not faxing results to the MFI specialists, then ringing me duplicate times etc), so you can't base the experience on that. A couple of the other ladies on here also recommended Dr G over over Dr L, and I really felt connected to their views. Dr L sent DH for a whole range of tests that no other GP or FS had even mentioned in the previous 9 months, so I was impressed. When we then went to Dr G actually said he highly regards Dr L and was very pleased that Dr L had already done most of the hard work and had so many test results. However Dr G then sent DH for even more tests. But I do recommend that people really should go see both - ask as many questions as you can, have as many tests done preferably before going to see them (e.g. Inhibin B, micro deletion of the Y chromosome). Good luck.

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Azoospermia

Hopefully dr g has a good run and finds some for us all! It's amazing how many people are going through this. When it first happened I thought we were the only people in the world to suffer from this but since going on bub hub I've realised we are not alone.

I have to learn to do the injections myself unfortunately. I work 12 hr shifts both night and day so my DH won't always be around to help me. Plus I will have to take them to work with me but my boss is really understanding I just hope no one else finds out about it my work loves to gossip!

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